Capt. Mike Pollack had
the aluminum 45 Hargrave running full bore over a light chop off the Fort
Lauderdale coast. The Twin Disc EC-200 Commander controls were floored,
and the 47,000-pound (with half fuel, or 700 gallons) boat was making
about 30 knots. Suddenly I realized I was standing on the teak bridge
deck straight up and down with my arms crossed. I didn't have to
lean on the L-shape lounge to port or the port-side Pompanette copilot
seat just forward of it. We may not have had 10-foot seas, but the ride
impressed me nonetheless. And I was curious as to why this boat didn't
budge.

Ralph Cantlay, Hargrave's
vice president of engineering--the man who designed the 45--greeted
my inquisitiveness with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a child who has discovered
the joy of blowing bubbles. He explained that the stringent codes of the
U.S. Coast Guard Subchapter T and the ABS classification for high-speed
aluminum craft set the benchmark for Hargrave when constructing the 45.
Simply put, a Subchapter T vessel may not exceed 100 gross tons and is
qualified to carry 149 passengers for day trips and 49 passengers for
overnight trips. Although a 45-footer obviously cannot carry that many
people, Hargrave's 45 qualifies under a subcategory for inspected
12-passenger vessels. "The whole [classification] background is
to give the boat a pedigree and build it for open-ocean bluewater service,"
Cantlay said.

Following the code,
Hargrave started with the aluminum alloy 5083-H116, which is the basis
for the 45's girders, frames, and plating. The 5083 has extra hardness
and tensile strength, adding rigidity to the structure. The hull is 1⁄4
inch thick, but at penetrations there are insert plates that bring that
to 1⁄2 or 5⁄8 inch. Longitudinals are extrusions of 5086-H32
alloy. As a result, Ron Pickle, vice president at Hargrave, told me the
45 has "virtually no flex."

Hargrave initiated construction
by laying a surface plate, a series of 12 six-inch I-beams to which the
3⁄8-inch-thick keel bar is mounted. Fourteen frames interlock with
the four full-length, 1⁄4-inch girders (stringers) and the keel
bar, and the longitudinals tie the frames together. There is a frame every
30 inches and a longitudinal every 10 inches. This exceeds the code's
requirements for a longitudinal every 12 inches and allows Hargrave to
install an extra eight in the boat. (Because the 45's longitudinals
are so close together, Cantlay refers to it as a "longitudinally
framed" boat.) All frames have 2"x1⁄4" "riders"
that each form a T section that receives the outer skin. The result is
a monocoque; that is, the skin is an integral, load-bearing part of the
structure.

In the fully welded
engine room, girders are thickened to 3⁄8 inch from 1⁄4 inch
at the number seven bulkhead to help support the diesels. There is a collision
bulkhead forward and three watertight compartments. With structure like
that, the 45's owner can be assured that if he's caught offshore
in deteriorating conditions, he'll get home. Or given the boat's
enormous 1,400-gallon fuel capacity, he can outlast most any storm he
encounters.